Sunday sewing, Monday chatting

Most of my weeks have ended up with sewing on Sunday.  For whatever reason, it has now become the day of choice to get everything together and pop some blocks out.  In three weeks I will have the opportunity to sew daily! I am very much looking forward to those days.


These are for my do.Good Stitches bee.  They are for August!!!!!  I am finally caught up for a change :)  The pattern is a tutorial by Adrianne from Little Bluebell. It is called the Stargazer Quilt Block.  Perfect instructions that make a fast and great block!

I also finished my Tula blocks for the week and posted them at Sew Sweetness for the Sew Along.

Today is the day I will be on Pat Sloan's radio show!!!!  Tune in at 4pm EST to listen to all of Pat's guests.  This is a podcast so you can always go back and listen later too ;o)

Chatting with Pat!

I am so excited a little nervous and very curious, hopefully I will not pass out!  Pat Sloan asked if I would be a guest on her radio show for American Patchwork & Quilting .  I said ABSOLUTELY because any time I get to spend with Pat is awesome, she is one of the sweetest people I know and her happiness is infectious, LOVE to be around her!!!

Anyway, Monday, August 12 at I think 5pm you can listen in to Pat and her guests chat about quilting and possibly other stuff too, you just never know with Pat ;)

Validation

During the summer I find myself getting away from the sewing room.  Vacations, kids, more house projects, the in house engineer deciding to get his Master's Degree ( while still doing his full time job) and did I mention the kids actually wanting food and clean clothes?

I feel like I need some sort of validation some sort of something to show me that I am still a part of the sewing world even if my machine has been off for more days than it has been on in the past two months. It feels like sewing is a passing whim rather than a full blown passion and it makes me sad at times. Until last Saturday night!!!!!

Last Saturday night I decided that Sunday was for me! Was for me and my SEWING MACHINE!!!! I cut out fabrics and had every little thing I needed and was ready to go the next morning and boy did it feel GOOD!!!!


I finished my June block for Aurifil Designer BOM

My two Believe do.Good Stitches blocks for July ( Pattern and tutorial is Starry Night by Fresh Lemon Quilts)

Three of the Tula Pink 100 Modern Blocks ( Katy chose the colors for these)

And finally the quilt label for Thomas Knauer's baby quilt that visited all of Austin!!!!

All of these little projects are now up on my wall to remind me that I DO still have the passion! There are my validation!  The little people ( one is taller than me now) will be going off to school in a few more weeks  and I think I will miss the laughter, the fun we have had this summer and really just having them around.  They are great children and I am a very lucky mama, I know that for sure.  That being said, I am looking  forward to the quiet times with just me and my sewing machine.

Life with kids and summer sewing

JUNE!!!! School is out for the summer and I have people at home!   It is time to readjust the schedule to accommodate more activities that the smaller ones require so they do not develop the dreaded screen disease!   I am amazed at how quickly they can just look at a television, ipad, ipod, iwhatever...also known in our house as widgets and be HOOKED...so an adjustment is necessary...

The water park is our choice in the battle against screen disease!  Look at all the fun stuff for them to do!!!!

The happy ( for now) people

Having them home and taking them out and about has created a little disturbance in my sewing force.  If I am not at home, I cannot sew...sigh...but I was able to make these and start on some new projects!


Believe Do.good stitches

Tula Pink City Sampler Sew Along blocks 10,11,12

Tula Pink City Sampler Blocks Four, Five and Six

It has been so cool seeing all the Tula Pink City Sampler Modern Blocks popping up on Instagram!  Literally popping!  They are so fast and easy to make and possibly a little bit addictive ;)

If you have not joined in on the fun, there is a Tula Pink City Sampler Quilt Along being hosted by Sew Sweetness showing the blocks and giving tips on how to assemble the blocks.  This was my day ( YAAY!)

My blocks this week are four, five and six...

Bad Blogger...

I have been a very bad blogger.  After Market, I came home and was exhausted and then became ill so I have been not keeping up with my poor neglected blog :(  I have been sewing, although it has been mostly "catch-up" sewing...


I did start the Tula Pink City Sampler Quilt and tomorrow is my day to share on Sew Sweetness!!!!!  Hope you are all joining in on the fun blocks...SO FAST AND EASY!!!!! This is my block number one :o)

Do Good Stitches Believe blocks for April...

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I did get to meet up with Pat Sloan at IKEA and grab some lunch!!!!  Her ab fabness just keeps getting higher and higher...I LOVE HER!

Pat was looking for a rug and an ironing board and I was looking for nothing but came home with a new set of white dishes made in Portugal for when Rachel comes to visit in OCT!!!!! There were a couple of other things that may have hopped into my cart in Ikea ;o)

I am feeling MUCH BETTER today which is good considering there will be a sewing playdate here tomorrow!!!! If you are in the area...drop on  in...I LOVE my sewing friends!!!!!

I have a Pat Sloan Crush!

A few weeks ago I was playing with some Bobbins and Bits, the new fabric line by Pat Sloan for Moda Fabrics.  Pat asked me to test out a new pattern using her fabrics and I could not say no to Pat ;o)


So here is Crush!  Great pattern and the colors in this line are so perfect, the grays and oranges...TO LIVE FOR!   I had a great time making this quilt top and would like to do another that I get to keep just for me!  The pattern is easy to follow and it goes together pretty fast, which I love.

To see more ( and there are many more) fabrics in this line visit Pat on youtube.  She has some real eyepoppers!





I made the decision yesterday that this will be the line I am using for my Tula Pink City Sampler Quilt Along that will be starting May 20th hosted on Sew Sweetness!  Hope you will all join us for this event!!!!

Playing with Pat Sloan!

Okay, I WISH I was playing with Pat Sloan but I have the second best thing...her NEW fabric line for Moda!!!!!!! Bobbins and Bits is so colorful and has DOTS!!!!!  I have a special place in my heart for dots and cannot seem to resist them.


Pat asked me a few weeks ago if I would like to play with her new line and I may have been more than a little excited at the chance.  So, this week it came in the mail and WOWIE WOW WOW!

Check this out!

I have been cutting like a fool and have this to show so far.  Here's to hoping for no mistakes,LOL!!!

and it even makes pretty scraps!

Back to work I go to make something hopefully and FABULOUS as Pat herself ;o)

Life passing me by...

WOW!  That was one busy week of no posting and where the heck did that time go?  I hate when that happens, even though I AM busy, it looks as I have nothing done and nothing to show for what little I did do...

This week I was able to finish the  2013 Aurifil Designer Block of the Month for February Heavy Crosses. This is untrimmed because I would like to wait until I have finished all the blocks before trimming.  The fabric is Kate Spain, I will be doing all my blocks from her line Serenade. I love the colors. I am piecing with Aurifil 50wt.

You can get the free pattern for this block at Aurifil 

This was a visually challenging block for me but with some amazing encouragement  and some step out instructions from Pat Sloan ( I LOVE HER), I was not as afraid to tackle it!

I also found it VERY helpful to pre-place all the pieces so I could really see what was going on.  I also made a couple of fabric changes before I started sewing since I did not want to finish and hate it,LOL! This block is not really difficult but it does take time. All things worthwhile do take time :o)

I also finished my pillow!

and here is the close up of the quilting...now to finish the second one...LOL!!!

But this is what is taking up the majority of my time...PAINTING!!!!!

The difference in before and one coat of after...

Hoping to soon get RID of the PINK carpet!!!!!

You can see WHY I needed to paint!!!!! The ceiling, crown molding and wall were all brown...

So if you do not hear from me in a few days you will know that I am STILL painting...

Pat Sloan and who!?!?!

The FABULOUS and talented (I know I heard some sort of angelic singing around EVERY SINGLE TIME I saw her at market in her super cool outfits)  Pat Sloan asked me to do an interview for her blog...WHAT!?! Me!?!? I started looking around the room and then realized I was in front of the computer and the email was addressed to ME so maybe it was not a fluke :o) Thank you so much Pat, you are FABULOUS!!!!

The interview is up today on Pat Sloan The Voice of Quilting

I met Pat in her booth at Market and ( and everywhere, that lady MOVES) she has a new line of fabric Eat Your Fruits and Veggies for Moda coming soon in October!!!!!

And it has perfectly matched thread from Aurifil! They are so beautiful together!!!!

I think this is really it!!!!!

The last day of market ( which was Sat for me) was just as exciting as the first. I think I may have slept seven  hours the entire weekend.  I am feeling it now ;o)

This is one of the most exciting things that happened to me while there.

Lovely...just lovely!!!!!!! I could have moved into this booth and not even needed internet, cable or possibly food...ever! But someone would have had to bring me my Bernina and some Aurifil of course ;o)

EEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!!!!!! Amy Butler has her hands on the Pineapple Princess quilt and she really liked it.  She is so lovely and wonderful. It was great to meet her.  Thank you Amy for taking the time to look at my quilt!!! It is safely home with me and I need to bind it and take final photos :o)

*this photo is from Sara's blog since in mine my eyes are closed since I may have blacked out a bit*

Sara taking photos of the first dress I am going to make!!!!!

And meeting this firecracker Kay Whitt of Serendipity Studio was so much FUN!  All of that charisma and creativity in a fun loving girl from Texas!!!!  I love this lady!!!!!

You cannot walk anywhere here and not run into a fantastic idea or a fabulous person...it is IMPOSSIBLE!

I was on my way to meet up with Sara and I found my nirvana...LIBERTY fabrics...( can you hear the angels singing)!!!!! I fondled some fabric and promised I would return and the gang there was so nice!!!! I am sure they are used to this reaction to all of that loveliness. 

When we returned, I was invited to sit down in one of the chairs covered in Liberty fabric ( it somehow seemed a bit naughty but I went along with it) and was speaking to the most wonderful lady. She handed me a box...of LIBERTY swatches...TEARS came to my eyes and I think I may have blacked out for a minute or two because I cannot remember much after that. Is Liberty of London  fabrics THAT good...YES! 

Kirstie ( the really nice lady that put up with my moment of weakness) was kind enough to take a photo with me and it is blurry but that is because I am probably still a bit woozy ;o)

This is the box with the fabric! It was in my purse ON the plane for fear of it's safety on the flight home! the new line is called Bloomsbury Gardens . TO LIVE FOR!!!!!

Oliver+s had a very cute booth and I had to get some shots of the really fun projects they had displayed

This is Adam's favorite!

I went back to the Laurie Tigner Design booth ( I was working for her) and who should show up...

Mr. Aurifil! He was out visiting all the booths and saying hello :o)  I am starting to think Alex has a twin ...he is EVERYWHERE!!!! 

Right next to our booth was Like Sew, a great group of guys (geeks which in my book means godlike since html is a four letter word to me) that also host the FreeQuiltPatterns.info site. Great group and it was great to meet them!!!!

Here they are with Laurie shoot some footage of how she LOVES them!!!!! Who does not adore a guy that can confidently wear pink and write code ;o) Oohlala!

Art Gallery...oh BABY!!!!!! Soft and lovely and yummy and the most ENERGETIC and FABULOUS group of people! This is the fabric company you want to go to a PARTY with!!!!!

Pat Bravo's Summerlove is one that will be living in my sewing room as soon as I can get my hands on it!!!!

I had to fly to Kansas City to meet this talented lady even though I only live one hour from her...

Pat Sloan in her really cool dress in front of her new fabric line Eat Your Fruits and Veggies!!! 

Next to Pat Sloan was another person that was on my list to meet ( Amy Lou Who said I had to hug her) Vanessa Christenson of V&Co. I was so happy when I saw her and warned her I was going to give her a hug from Amy and she said okay, then I told her my name was Kim and she looked at my tag and said..."OH! you are THAT Kim!" Not sure if that was good or bad she hugged me again and I was super happy her ninjas did not jump me!!!! Yes, she had her own set of personal ninjas and they were in some of my photos  although I cannot show them( ninjas cannot ever reveal their true identity). 

Amy, I REALLY hugged her but Sara has the photo and I will post it as soon as I get it from her!!!!!

I found someone that was not quilting but KNITTING at market...I thought that was so cool and well, she was doing a great job!

I saw her again at the KCMQG!!!! And she gave me a prize ( see that Robert Kauffman fabric ;o), she gave that to me!!!) !!!! 

I was searching all over for her and she is NOT Sewing Athena ( I googled it every way possible)  but Spinning Athena multi talented and very nice :o) 

So with blistered and bandaged toes...

and a head full of ideas, I sadly said goodbye to Kansas City and all the wonderful people I met there.

Thank you Kansas City, International Quilt Market, designers, bloggers and everyone else! It was fun!!!!